Configurable antenna structure

ABSTRACT

A configurable antenna structure includes a plurality of switches, a plurality of antenna components, and a configuration module. The configuration module is operable to configure the plurality of switches and the plurality of antenna components into a first antenna for receiving a multiple frequency band multiple standard (MFBMS) signal. The configuration module continues processing by identify a signal component of interest of a plurality of signal components of interest within the MFBMS signal. The configuration module continues processing by configuring the plurality of switches and the plurality of antenna components into a second antenna.

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. §120, as a continuation, to the following U.S. Utility patentapplication which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility patent applicationfor all purposes:

1. U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 12/328,597, entitled “CONFIGURABLEANTENNA STRUCTURE AND APPLICATIONS THEREOF,” (Attorney Docket No.BP20100), filed Dec. 4, 2008, pending, which claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. §120, as a continuation-in-part (CIP), to the following U.S.Utility patent applications, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utilitypatent application for all purposes:A. U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 11/527,959, entitled “MULTIPLE BANDANTENNA STRUCTURE,” (Attorney Docket No. BP5681), filed Sep. 27, 2006,abandoned; andB. U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 11/648,826, entitled “INTEGRATEDCIRCUIT ANTENNA STRUCTURE” (Attorney Docket No. BP5932), filed Dec. 29,2006, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,893,878, on Feb. 22, 2011.

BACKGROUND

a. Technical Field

This invention relates generally to wireless communication systems andmore particularly to antennas used within such systems.

b. Description of Related Art

Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire linedcommunications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices.Such communication systems range from national and/or internationalcellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-homewireless networks to radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Eachtype of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, inaccordance with one or more communication standards. For instance,wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one ormore standards including, but not limited to, RFID, IEEE 802.11,Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access(CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS),multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variationsthereof.

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wirelesscommunication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio,personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptopcomputer, home entertainment equipment, RFID reader, RFID tag, et ceteracommunicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communicationdevices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-pointcommunications), the participating wireless communication devices tunetheir receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g.,one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wirelesscommunication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirectwireless communications, each wireless communication device communicatesdirectly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services)and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-buildingwireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communicationconnection between the wireless communication devices, the associatedbase stations and/or associated access points communicate with eachother directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephonenetwork, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.

For each wireless communication device to participate in wirelesscommunications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiverand transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g.,a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communicationnetworks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the receiver is coupled to theantenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediatefrequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The lownoise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna andamplifies then. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix theamplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert theamplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF)signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IFsignals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filteredsignals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filteredsignals in accordance with the particular wireless communicationstandard.

As is also known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, oneor more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The datamodulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordancewith a particular wireless communication standard. The one or moreintermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or morelocal oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifiesthe RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.

Since the wireless part of a wireless communication begins and ends withthe antenna, a properly designed antenna structure is an importantcomponent of wireless communication devices. As is known, the antennastructure is designed to have a desired impedance (e.g., 50 Ohms) at anoperating frequency, a desired bandwidth centered at the desiredoperating frequency, and a desired length (e.g., ¼ wavelength of theoperating frequency for a monopole antenna). As is further known, theantenna structure may include a single monopole or dipole antenna, adiversity antenna structure, the same polarization, differentpolarization, and/or any number of other electro-magnetic properties.

One popular antenna structure for RF transceivers is a three-dimensionalin-air helix antenna, which resembles an expanded spring. The in-airhelix antenna provides a magnetic omni-directional mono pole antenna,but is generally not implemented on a printed circuit board (PCB). ForPCB implemented antennas, the antenna has a meandering pattern on onesurface of the PCB. Such an antenna consumes a relatively large area ofthe PCB. For example, a one-quarter (¼) wavelength antenna at 900 MHzhas a total length of approximately 8 centimeters (i.e., 0.25*32 cm,which is the approximate wavelength of a 900 MHz signal). As anotherexample, a ¼ wavelength antenna at 2400 MHz has a total length ofapproximately 3 cm (i.e., 0.25*12.5 cm, which is the approximatewavelength of a 2400 MH signal). Even with a tight meandering pattern, asingle 900 MHz antenna consumes approximately 4 cm².

If an RF transceiver is a multiple band transceiver (e.g., 900 MHz and2400 MHz) that supports multiple standards, then two antennas areneeded, which consumes even more PCB space. With a never-ending push forsmaller form factors with increased performance (e.g., multiplefrequency band multiple standard [MFBMS] operation), current antennastructures are not practical for many newer wireless communicationapplications.

Therefore, a need exists for a multiple frequency band multiple standardantenna structure that at least partially overcomes one or more of theabove mentioned limitations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example of a multiple frequency band multiplestandard (MFBMS) in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 5-7 are diagrams of examples of adjustable properties of aconfigurable antenna structure in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a configurableantenna in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an embodiment of a configurable antenna inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an embodiment of an antenna component inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an antennacomponent in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a diagram of an example of a configured antenna in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of configuring an antenna inaccordance with the present invention; and

FIGS. 18-20 are diagrams of an example of configuring an antenna inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver 10 that includes a configurable antennastructure 12, a low noise amplifier module 14, a down conversion module16, an up conversion module 18, a power amplifier module 20 and atransmit/receive coupling module 22. The configurable antenna structure12 includes a plurality of antenna components 24, a plurality ofswitches 26 and a configuration module 28.

As an example of operation, the RF transceiver 10 is coupled to abaseband processing module within a wireless communication device toparticipate in one or more wireless communications, which is/are incompliance with one or more standards in one or more frequency bands.For example, one or more standards may operation in the 900 MHzfrequency band, the 1800/1900 MHz frequency band, the 2100 MHz frequencyband, the 2.4 GHz frequency band, the 5 GHz frequency band, the 29 GHzfrequency band, the 60 GHz frequency band, etc. For instance, IEEE802.11 based standards operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band (e.g.,2.412-2.483 GHz) and/or the 5 GHz frequency band (e.g., 5.15-5.35 GHzand 5.725-5.825 GHz); frequency division duplex (FDD) WCDMA operates inthe 1900 MHz and 2100 MHz frequency bands (e.g., 1920-1980 MHz foruplink communications and 2110-2170 MHz for downlink communications);time division duplex (TDD) WCDMA operates the 1900 and 2100 MHzfrequency bands (e.g., 1900-1920 MHz and 2010-2025 MHz, which are sharedby the uplink and downlink communications); high-speed downlink packetaccess (HSDPA), high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA) operate in samefrequency band as WCDMA; a satellite based standards operate in theC-band (e.g., 500 MHz to 1 GHz) and/or the K-band (e.g., 12 GHz to 18GHz); GSM based standards operate in the 900 MHz frequency band (e.g.,up link 880-915 MHz and down link 925-960 MHz), the 1800 MHz frequencyband (e.g., up link 1710-1785 MHz and down link 1805-1880 MHz), and/orthe 1900 MHz frequency band (e.g., up link 1850-1910 MHz and down link1930-1990 MHz); Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) basedstandards operate in the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and/or 1900 MHz frequencybands; and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) based standards operatein the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, and/or 1900 MHz frequency bands.

The baseband processing module, the RF transceiver 10, and/or theconfigurable antenna structure 12 are configured to support an activewireless communication, or communications, in accordance with theparticular standard, or standards. For instance, if the wirelesscommunication device is currently active in only a GSM basedcommunication in the 1800/1900 MHz frequency band, then the basebandprocessing module, the RF transceiver 10, and/or the configurableantenna structure are configured for GSM operation in the 1800/1900 MHzfrequency band.

In this configuration, the baseband processing module converts outbounddata (e.g., voice, data, video, audio, text, graphics, etc.) into anoutbound symbol stream 30 in accordance with the GSM standard(s). Theup-conversion module 18 converts the outbound symbol stream 30 into anup converted signal in accordance with the corresponding standard. Thismay be done by mixes the outbound symbol stream 30 with a transmit localoscillation (which has been configured or selected from a plurality ofoscillators to provide a desired local oscillation) to produce theup-converted signal. The mixing may be done in a variety of ways. Forinstance, a first mixer (which is tuned or selected from a plurality ofmixers for the given frequency band or portion thereof) mixing anin-phase component of the outbound symbol stream 30 with in-phasecomponent of the transmit local oscillation to produce a first mixedsignal and a second mixer (which is tuned or selected from a pluralityof mixers for the given frequency band or portion thereof) mixing aquadrature component of the outbound symbol stream 30 with a quadraturecomponent of the transmit local oscillation to produce a second mixedsignal. The first and second mixed signals are combined and/or filteredto produce the up-converted signal.

In another embodiment, the outbound symbol stream 30 includes phaseinformation (e.g., +/−Δθ [phase shift] and/or θ(t) [phase modulation])that adjusts the phase of the transmit local oscillation 32 to produce aphase adjusted up-converted signal. In this embodiment, the phaseadjusted up-converted signal provides the up-converted signal. Inanother embodiment, the outbound symbol stream 30 further includesamplitude information (e.g., A(t) [amplitude modulation]), which is usedto adjust the amplitude of the phase adjusted up converted signal toproduce the up-converted signal. In yet another embodiment, the outboundsymbol stream 30 provides frequency information (e.g., +/−Δf [frequencyshift] and/or f(t) [frequency modulation]) that adjusts the frequency ofthe transmit local oscillation to produce a frequency adjustedup-converted signal. In this embodiment, the frequency adjustedup-converted signal provides the up-converted signal. In yet anotherembodiment, the outbound symbol stream further includes amplitudeinformation, which is used to adjust the amplitude of the frequencyadjusted up-converted signal to produce the up-converted signal. In afurther embodiment, the outbound symbol stream 30 provides amplitudeinformation (e.g., +/−ΔA [amplitude shift] and/or A(t) [amplitudemodulation]) that adjusts the amplitude of the transmit localoscillation to produce the up-converted signal.

The power amplifier module 20 amplifies the up converted signal toproduce the transmit signal component of interest 36. The poweramplifier module 20 may include one or more power amplifiers and/orpower amplifier drivers coupled in series and/or in parallel to amplifythe up-converted signal. Such a combination of power amplifiers and/orpower amplifier drivers may be adjustable to operate with the givenfrequency band or portion thereof. Alternatively or in addition to, thepower amplifier module may include a plurality of power amplifiers ordrivers having different performance characteristics (e.g., gain,frequency response, bandwidth, etc.) that may be individually selectedor selected in combination to amplify the up converted signal to producean outbound RF signal 34.

The transmit/receive (T/R) module 22 provides the outbound RF signal 34as the transmit signal component of interest 36 to the configurableantenna structure 12. The transmit/receive module 22 may include atransmit/receive switch when the configurable antenna structure isshared between the transmit and receive paths. The T/R module 22 mayinclude one or more transformer baluns to convert single-ended signalsinto differential signals and/or convert differential signals intosignal ended signals. The T/R module 22 may include one or more RFbandpass filters for filtering the outbound RF signal 34 and/or theinbound RF signal 40. In other embodiments, the T/R module 22 mayinclude a plurality of T/R switches, transformer baluns, RF bandpassfilters, and/or other components to provide a plurality of interfacesbetween the PA module 20 and the configurable antenna structure 12 tosupport a plurality of concurrent wireless communications.

The configurable antenna structure 12 is configured to provide anantenna for transmitting the transmit signal component 36 of interest36. In this example, the antenna is configured to have antennaproperties (e.g., gain, bandwidth, center frequency, etc.) toeffectively transmit GSM signals. In this example, the configurableantenna structure 12 is further configured to provide a receive antennahaving properties to effectively receive a GSM signal, which is providedas a receive signal component of interest 38 to the T/R coupling module22.

To configure the configurable antenna structure 12, the configurationmodule 28 is operable to identify a signal component of interest 36and/or 38 of a plurality of signal components of interest. The pluralityof signal components corresponds to a plurality of standards that arewithin a multiple frequency band multiple standard (MFBMS) mask 46. Withreference to FIG. 2, a MFBMS mask 46 corresponds to the total bandwidthof frequency bands 48 that are used for the various standards supportedby the wireless communication device. Each frequency band (e.g., 900MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, satellite frequency band, 29 GHz, 60 GHzetc.) includes one or more channels 50. A signal component of interest52 may be supported by one or more channels 50. For example, the GSM useof the 1800 MHz frequency band includes an up link channel at 1710-1785MHz and a down link channel at 1805-1880 MHz.

Returning to the discussion of FIG. 1, the configuration module 22 maybe a separate processing module or included in the baseband processingmodule. Such a processing module may be a single processing device or aplurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be amicroprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor,microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array,programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals(analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/oroperational instructions. The processing module may have an associatedmemory and/or memory element, which may be a single memory device, aplurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of the processingmodule. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random accessmemory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamicmemory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that storesdigital information. Note that when the processing module implements oneor more of its functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory elementstoring the corresponding operational instructions may be embeddedwithin, or external to, the circuitry comprising the state machine,analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Furthernote that, the memory element stores, and the processing moduleexecutes, hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to atleast some of the steps and/or functions illustrated in FIGS. 1-20.

The configuration module 28 may identify the transmit signal componentof interest 36 and/or receive signal component of interest 38 based onknowing the particular standard currently being utilized (e.g., GSM,WCDMA, EGDE, etc.). When the particular standard is not yet known (e.g.,when the wireless device is the target of a communication and not theinitiator), the configuration module 28 may configure the plurality ofantenna components 24 via the switches to provide a first antenna. Thefirst antenna may have antenna properties corresponding to the MFBMSmask 46 such that the RF transceiver can receive a very wide bandwidthsignal (e.g., that spans the MFBMS mask 46). The configured antennaprovides the received MFBMS signals to the LNA and down conversionmodule for conversion into baseband signals. The baseband signals areinterpreted by the configuration module 28 and/or the basebandprocessing module to determine whether the wireless communication deviceis a target of a wireless communication. If so, the configuration module28 and/or the baseband processing module identifies the standard, thecorresponding frequency band, and the corresponding channel or channels(i.e., the signal component(s) of interest).

In another embodiment, the configuration module 28 configures theplurality of antenna components to form a plurality of antennas forscanning the MFBMS mask 46. Each of the plurality of antennas has abandwidth narrower than the bandwidth of the MFBMS mask 46 and has adifferent center frequency than the other antennas. The plurality ofantennas may be configured in parallel, in a serial manner, or in acombination thereof. The configuration module 28 may further adjust theproperties from antenna to antenna to obtain various scanning options.

After identifying the signal component, or components of interest 36and/or 38, the configuration module 28 configures the plurality ofswitches 26 and the plurality of antenna components 24 into an antennafor transmitting or receiving the signal component of interest 36 and/or38. The configuration module 28 may provide control signals to theswitches 26 and antenna components 24 to configure them to provide thedesired antenna. The control signals may be provided to all of theswitches 26 and antenna components 24 or to only those switches andantenna components 24 needed to provide the desired antenna.

The desired antenna receives an inbound RF signal of interest (e.g., aninbound GSM signal) and provides it to the T/R coupling module 22. TheT/R coupling module 22 may filter the received signal, may converted itinto a differential signal, and/or may provide the received signal tothe LNA module 14 and an inbound RF signal 40. The LNA module 14 mayinclude one or more low noise amplifiers to amplify the inbound RFsignal 40 to produce an amplified inbound RF signal. To accommodate thewide bandwidth of an MFBMS signal (i.e., an signal that fits within theMFBMS mask 46 of FIG. 2), the LNA module 14 may include one or moreadjustable LNA modules (e.g., adjustable gains, bandwidth, frequencyresponse, etc.), may include a plurality of narrow band LNA modules(e.g., tuned to one or more channels or frequency bands) coupled toprocess the wide bandwidth MFBMS signal, and/or a combination thereof.

The down conversion module 16 converts the amplified received signalcomponent of interest (i.e., the amplified inbound RF signal 40) into aninbound symbol stream 44 in accordance with a corresponding standard ofthe plurality of standards. The down conversion may be done by mixing(which is tunable or selectable from a plurality of mixers based on thefrequency band in which the signal component of interest lies) in-phase(I) and quadrature (Q) components of the amplified inbound RF signalwith in-phase and quadrature components of receiver local oscillation 42(which is adjustable or selectable from a plurality of oscillators basedon the frequency band in which the signal component of interest lies) toproduce a mixed I signal and a mixed Q signal for each component of theamplified inbound RF signal. The mixed I and Q signals are combined toproduce an inbound symbol stream 44. In an embodiment, the inboundsymbol stream 44 includes phase information (e.g., +/−Δθ [phase shift]and/or 0(t) [phase modulation]) and/or frequency information (e.g.,+/−Δf [frequency shift] and/or f(t) [frequency modulation]). In anotherembodiment and/or in furtherance of the preceding embodiment, theinbound RF signal includes amplitude information (e.g., +/−ΔA [amplitudeshift] and/or A(t) [amplitude modulation]). To recover the amplitudeinformation, the down conversion module further includes an amplitudedetector such as an envelope detector, a low pass filter, etc.

As another example, if the wireless communication device is currentlyactive in two or more wireless communications (e.g., a GSM basedcommunication in the 1800/1900 MHz frequency band and in a 60 GHz basedcommunication), the baseband processing module, the RF transceiver 10,and/or the configurable antenna structure 12 are configured to supportboth communications concurrently. With respect to the configurableantenna structure 12, the configuration module 28 identifies a signalcomponent of interest 36 and/or 38 of a plurality of signal componentsof interest for each wireless communication.

After identifying the signal component, or components of interest 36and/or 38, the configuration module 28 configures the plurality ofswitches 26 and the plurality of antenna components 24 into an antennafor transmitting or receiving the signal component of interest 36 and/or38 for one wireless communication and into another antenna fortransmitting or receiving the signal components of interest for anotherwireless communication. The configuration module 28 may provide controlsignals to the switches 26 and antenna components 24 to configure themto provide the desired antennas. The control signals may be provided toall of the switches 26 and antenna components 24 or to only thoseswitches and antenna components 24 needed to provide the desiredantenna.

As yet another example, when the wireless communication device is idle(i.e., not actively participating in a wireless communication), theantenna structure 12 may be configured into a first antenna that has abandwidth corresponding to the MFBMS mask 46 or a default frequency bandwithin the MFBMS mask 46. In this instance, the RF transceiver 10 is ina sniff mode to detect signal activity in any one of the frequency bandsfor any one of the standards. Once signal activity is detected and isfor the wireless communication device, the RF transceiver 10, includingthe configurable antenna structure 12, is configured as discussed above.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver 10 that includes a die 60 and a packagesubstrate 62. The package substrate 62 supports the die 60 and ismounted in an integrated circuit package. The die 60 supports theconfigurable antenna structure 12, the T/R coupling module 22, the PAmodule 20, the LNA module 14, the down conversion module 16, and the upconversion module 18. In this embodiment, additional switches 26 andantenna components 24 may be off-chip and mounted on a printed circuitboards (PCB). For example, physically larger antenna components 24 maybe provided off-chip than the ones included on the die 60 to enablelarger antennas, which typically have a lower center frequency thansmaller antennas, to be configured.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver 10 that includes a die 64 and a packagesubstrate 66. The package substrate 66, is mounted in an integratedcircuit package, supports the die 64 and the antenna components 24. Thedie 64 supports the configuration module 28, the switches 26, the T/Rcoupling module 22, the PA module 20, the LNA module 14, the downconversion module 16, and the up conversion module 18. In thisembodiment, additional switches 26 may be on the package substrate 66.In addition, more antenna components 24 and switches may be off-chip andmounted on a printed circuit boards (PCB) to allow for physically largerantenna configurations.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of frequency response of a configuredantenna. The frequency response includes a gain, which may fixed (A) oradjustable [A(f)], a center frequency, and a bandwidth. The centerfrequency, which corresponds to the resonant frequency of the antenna,is primarily determined by the length of the antenna (λ=c/f, where λ isthe wave length, c is the speed of light, and f is the resonantfrequency). As such, the antenna components may be configured to providean antenna that has a specific length to provide a desired center, orresonant, frequency. Alternatively, the antenna components may beconfigure to provide a length that is a fraction of the length of thedesired frequency such that the antenna resonates at a harmonicfrequency, or frequencies, of the desired frequency. Further, theantenna components may be configured to provide multiple resonantfrequencies, which enable the antenna to be effective over a wide rangeof frequencies.

The gain of an antenna is generally defined as the ratio of theintensity, which is a function of per unit surface, radiated by theantenna in a given direction at a distance divided by the intensityradiated at the same distance by a hypothetical isotropic antenna. Assuch, by configuring the antenna components in a way that affects theper unit surface of the antenna, the gain of the antenna can be set, oradjusted.

The bandwidth of an antenna having a length of one-half (½) wavelengthor less is primarily dictated by the antenna's quality factor (Q), whichmay be mathematically expressed as shown in Equation 1 where v₀ is theresonant frequency, 2δv is the difference in frequency between the twohalf-power points (i.e., the bandwidth).

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{v_{0}}{2{\partial v}} = \frac{1}{Q}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

Equation 2 provides a basic quality factor equation for the antennastructure, where R is the resistance of the antenna structure, L is theinductance of the antenna structure, and C is the capacitor of theantenna structure.

$\begin{matrix}{Q = {\frac{1}{R}*\sqrt{\frac{L}{C}}}} & {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

As such, by adjusting the resistance, inductance, and/or capacitance ofan antenna structure, the bandwidth can be controlled.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of phase shifting a signal transmitted orreceived by a configured antenna. In this instance, the transmitted orreceived signal is represented by the term [A(f)], which may be rotatedin phase by a φ (phase shift) value. In an embodiment, the antennacomponents 24 include one or more phase shifters that phase shift atransmitted or received signal.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of an antenna's directional capabilities.As shown, an antenna may be omni-directional or directional. As such,the antenna components may be configured to provide an antenna that hasa directional radiation pattern or one that has a more omni-directionalradiation pattern.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a configurableantenna structure 12 coupled to a transmission line 70. In this diagram,the antenna components may be configured in a variety of ways to providea desired resistance, inductance, and/or capacitance. From configurationto configuration, the resistance, inductance, and/or capacitance may bechanged to affect one or more properties of a configured antenna. Assuch, the configurable antenna structure 12 can be configured to providean antenna, or antennas, for a desired level of operation for one ormore standards in one or more frequency bands.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an embodiment of a configurable antenna structure12 that includes a plurality of antenna components 24 (ant comp) and aplurality of switches 26 (SW). The antenna components 24 and theswitches 26 may be implemented on one or more dies of an integratedcircuit. On a die, the antenna components 24 and switches may bearranged in a series of rows and columns, or other patterns to providevarious options for configuring antennas having desired properties.

As shown, an antenna component 24 may include an antenna element 80and/or a phase shifter 82. The antenna element may 80 be a trace of aspecific geometric shape (e.g., square, rectangle, right angle, arc,etc.) having a length, width, and depth to provide, at a frequency, aresistance, inductance, and/or capacitance. Note that the capacitance iswith respect to another antenna component or antenna element.

A phase shifter 82 may be a trace that is inductively and/orcapacitively coupled to an antenna element, or elements, that changesthe phase of the transmitted or received signal. In another embodiment,the phase shifter 82 may include a capacitor, an inductor, a transistor,and/or resistor to phase shift a received or transmitted signal. In yetanother embodiment, the phase shifter 82 may be a circuit (e.g., filter,integrator, differentiator, etc.) that shifts the phase of a transmittedor received signal.

A switch 26 of the plurality of switches may include a plurality ofconnection lines and a plurality of switches that connect one of theconnection lines to another. With the switches 26 distributed among theantenna components 24, the antenna components may be coupled together toprovide a variety of configured antennas. Note that a switch 26 may havemore or less than the four connect lines shown.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an embodiment of an antenna component 24 thatincludes a plurality of antenna elements 80 and/or a plurality of phaseshifters 82 on one or more layers 84 and/or 86 of an integrated circuit,package substrate, printed circuit board, and/or other substrate.Multiple elements and/or shifters on a layer allows for variouscombinations within an antenna component to affect the antennaproperties of the antenna component. For instance, an individual antennaelement 80 has a higher resistance, greater inductance, and less surfacearea, than two or three elements 80 used in parallel, which affects theantenna properties of the component 24. Also, a single antenna elementis further away from a single antenna element of another antennacomponent, which yields a low capacitance therebetween than whenmultiple antenna elements are coupled in parallel.

In this embodiment, the antenna elements 80 and/or phase shifters 82 onthe first layer 84 are perpendicular to the antenna elements 80 and/orphase shifters 82 on the second layer 86. Such a configuration allowsfor one layer or the other to be used to provide “vertical” or“horizontal” connectivity to other antenna components 24. For instance,by varying the vertical and horizontal connections, a wide variety ofantennas may be configures. Examples of this are shown in FIGS. 12-16.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of an antennacomponent 24 that includes multiple antenna elements 80 and/or phaseshifters 82 one multiple layers. The antenna component 24 may alsoinclude a plurality of high frequency switches that allow for thevarious elements to be individually selected or coupled in parallel.Note that in other embodiments, an antenna component 24 may include asingle antenna element 80 or a single phase shifter 82 and not includeany switches.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of an example of a configured antenna 90 thatincludes a meandering pattern. In this example, multiple antennacomponents are coupled together via switches to provide the meanderingpattern. The length of the antenna is dependent upon the frequency ofoperation. Other antenna properties are dependent upon the properties ofthe configured antenna components 24. In one implementation, the antennais configured for a single frequency band, or portion thereof. Inanother implementation, the antenna is configured for multiple frequencybands.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna thatincludes two meandering trace antennas 90 and 92. In this example, twomeandering antennas are created of approximately the same length. Onemay be used for transmitting signals and the other may be used forreceiving signals. Alternatively, the configured antennas 90 and 92 mayhave a different length (and other differing antenna properties) totransmit and/or receive signals in different frequency bands, ordifferent channels in different frequency bands. As a furtheralternative, one configured antenna may have a meandering pattern whilethe second may have another antenna configuration (e.g., mono pole,di-pole, helical, etc.). In an implementation, the two or moreconfigured antennas may be used in concert for beamforming and/or for amultiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication. In anotherimplementation, the two or more configured antennas may be used to forma diversity antenna structure.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna 94 thathas a di-pole configuration. In this example, the antenna elements areconfigured in a minoring image to provide the configured di-poleantenna. The length (and potentially other properties of the antenna) ofthe di-pole antenna is based on the desired frequency band, or portionthereof.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna thatincludes two di-pole antennas 96 and 98. The two configured di-poleantennas may operate in the same frequency band or different frequencybands, may be have the same or different polarization, and/or may havethe same or different antenna properties. In an implementation, oneantenna may be used for transmitting signals and the other for receivingsignals. In another implementation, the two or more configured antennasmay be used in concert for beamforming and/or for a multiple inputmultiple output (MIMO) communication. In yet another implementation, thetwo or more configured antennas may be used to form a diversity antennastructure.

FIG. 16 is a diagram of another example of a configured antenna 100 thatincludes four di-pole antennas. The four configured di-pole antennas mayoperate in the same frequency band or some to all may operate indifferent frequency bands. In an implementation, two antennas may beused for transmitting signals and the other two antennas for receivingsignals. In another implementation, the configured antennas may be usedin concert for beamforming and/or for a multiple input multiple output(MIMO) communication. In yet another implementation, the configuredantennas may be used to form a diversity antenna structure.

FIG. 17 is a logic diagram of an embodiment of configuring an antennathat begins at step 110 where the configuration module configures theplurality of switches and the plurality of antenna components into afirst antenna for receiving a multiple frequency band multiple standard(MFBMS) signal 46. For example, the first antenna may be configured tohave a bandwidth to accommodate an MFBMS signal 46 as shown in FIG. 18.As shown, the MFBMS signal 48 spans multiple frequency bands 48 (e.g.,900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz, etc.). Each frequency bandmay be divided into one or more channels, where a channel may be dividedinto a plurality of slots (e.g., time, frequency, and/or code slots).

Returning to the discussion of FIG. 17, when the MFBMS signal isreceived, the method proceeds to step 114 where the configuration moduleidentifies a signal component of interest of a plurality of signalcomponents of interest within the MFBMS signal. In this example, thesignal component of interest corresponds to a standard of a plurality ofstandards that spans a plurality of frequency bands. For example, thesignal component of interest 52 may correspond to one or more channels,or portion thereof, in a given frequency band as shown in FIG. 19.

Returning to the discussion of FIG. 17, the method continues at step 116where the configuration module configures the plurality of switches andthe plurality of antenna components into a second antenna. In thisexample, the second antenna has at least one of: a resonant frequencycorresponding to a frequency of the signal component of interest and adirectional radiation pattern based on the signal component of interest.For example, the second antenna may have a bandwidth as shown in FIG. 20to receive the signal component of interest 52.

Note that when the signal component of interest is known (e.g., for atransmission), steps 110 and 112 may be omitted such that the secondantenna is configured from the plurality of antenna components andswitches. Further note that the first and/or second antenna may beconfigured in accordance with one or more of the examples previouslydiscussed with reference to one or more of FIGS. 1-16. Still furthernote that the configuration of the second antenna may be configured toreplace the first antenna or configured concurrently with the configuredfirst antenna.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “coupled to” and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling betweenitems and/or indirect coupling between items via an intervening item(e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, an element,a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, theintervening item does not modify the information of a signal but mayadjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As mayfurther be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element iscoupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirectcoupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”. As mayeven further be used herein, the term “operable to” indicates that anitem includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s),etc., to perform, when activated, one or more its correspondingfunctions and may further include inferred coupling to one or more otheritems. As may still further be used herein, the term “associated with”,includes direct and/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or oneitem being embedded within another item. As may be used herein, the term“compares favorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or moreitems, signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, whenthe desired relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude thansignal 2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude ofsignal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude ofsignal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the performance of certainsignificant functions. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description.Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significantfunctions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocksmay also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certainsignificant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram blockboundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and stillperform the certain significant functionality. Such alternatedefinitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocksand sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimedinvention. One of average skill in the art will also recognize that thefunctional building blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules andcomponents herein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discretecomponents, application specific integrated circuits, processorsexecuting appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A configurable antenna structure comprises: aplurality of switches; a plurality of antenna components; and aconfiguration module operable to configure the plurality of switches andthe plurality of antenna components into a first antenna correspondingto a multiple frequency band multiple standard (MFBMS) mask, theconfiguration module further operable to: when a MFBMS signal isreceived by the first antenna, identify a signal component of interestwithin the MFBMS signal; and configure the plurality of switches and theplurality of antenna components into a second antenna based on thesignal component of interest, wherein the second antenna has at leastone of: a resonant frequency corresponding to a frequency of the signalcomponent of interest, and a directional radiation pattern based on thesignal component of interest.
 2. The configurable antenna structure ofclaim 1, wherein the configuration module is further operable to:reconfigure the plurality of switches and the plurality of antennacomponents from the first antenna into the second antenna.
 3. Theconfigurable antenna structure of claim 1, wherein the configurationmodule is further operable to: configure a first set of the plurality ofswitches and a first set of the plurality of antenna components into thefirst antenna; and configure a second set of the plurality of switchesand a second set of the plurality of antenna components into the secondantenna.
 4. The configurable antenna structure of claim 3, wherein theconfiguration module is further operable to: when the MFBMS signalcontains a second signal component of interest, configure the pluralityof switches and the plurality of antenna components into a thirdantenna, wherein the third antenna has at least one of: a narrowerbandwidth than the first antenna, greater gain than the first antenna,and a more directional radiation pattern than the first antenna.
 5. Theconfigurable antenna structure of claim 1, wherein the plurality ofantenna components comprises at least one of: a plurality of antennaelements, wherein an antenna element of the plurality of antennaelements has an element frequency range, an element bandwidth, anelement gain within the element bandwidth, and an element radiationpattern; and a plurality of phase shift elements.
 6. The configurableantenna structure of claim 5, wherein the configuration module isfurther operable to: configure the plurality of switches, the pluralityof antenna components, and the plurality of phase shift elements intothe second antenna having a plurality of antenna members, wherein theplurality of antenna members facilitates at least one of: beamforming ofthe signal component of interest, multiple input multiple output (MIMO)formatting of the signal component of interest, and diversity receptionof the signal component of interest.
 7. The configurable antennastructure of claim 1, a switch of the plurality of switches comprises atleast one of: a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) switch; anintegrated circuit sapphire switch; and a silicon integrated circuitswitch.
 8. The configurable antenna structure of claim 1 furthercomprises: a die; and a package substrate, wherein the package substratesupports the die and wherein the die supports the plurality of switches,the plurality of antenna components, and the configuration module. 9.The configurable antenna structure of claim 1 further comprises: a die;and a package substrate, wherein the package substrate supports the dieand the plurality of antenna components, and wherein the die supportsthe plurality of switches and the configuration module.
 10. Aconfigurable antenna structure comprises: a plurality of switches; aplurality of antenna components; and a configuration module operable to:configure the plurality of switches and the plurality of antennacomponents into an antenna that corresponds with a multiple frequencyband multiple standard (MFBMS) mask; identify a signal component ofinterest of a plurality of signal components of interest, wherein theplurality of signal components of interest corresponds to a plurality ofstandards that are within the MFBMS mask; and configure the plurality ofswitches and the plurality of antenna components into another antennafor transmitting or receiving the signal component of interest based onthe signal component of interest.
 11. The configurable antenna structureof claim 10, wherein the configuration module is further operable to:identify a second signal component of interest of the plurality ofsignal components of interest; and configure the plurality of switchesand the plurality of antenna components into the antenna fortransmitting or receiving the signal component of interest and into yetanother antenna for transmitting or receiving the second signalcomponent of interest.
 12. The configurable antenna structure of claim10, wherein the plurality of antenna components comprises at least oneof: a plurality of antenna elements, wherein an antenna element of theplurality of antenna elements has an element frequency range, an elementbandwidth, an element gain within the element bandwidth, and an elementradiation pattern; and a plurality of phase shift elements.
 13. Theconfigurable antenna structure of claim 12, wherein the configurationmodule is further operable to: configure the plurality of switches, theplurality of antenna components, and the plurality of phase shiftelements into the antenna having a plurality of antenna members, whereinthe plurality of antenna members facilitates at least one of:beamforming of the signal component of interest, multiple input multipleoutput (MIMO) formatting of the signal component of interest, anddiversity reception of the signal component of interest.
 14. Theconfigurable antenna structure of claim 10, a switch of the plurality ofswitches comprises at least one of: a micro-electro-mechanical system(MEMS) switch; on integrated circuit sapphire switch an integratedcircuit sapphire switch; and a silicon integrated circuit switch.
 15. Aradio frequency (RF) transceiver comprises: a configurable antennastructure that includes: a plurality of switches; a plurality of antennacomponents; and a configuration module operable to: configure theplurality of switches and the plurality of antenna components into afirst antenna corresponding to a first mask based on a multiplefrequency band multiple standard (MFBMS) signal; identify a signalcomponent of interest of a plurality of signal components of interestfrom the MFBMS signal, wherein the plurality of signal componentscorresponds to a plurality of standards that are within a MFBMS mask;and configure the plurality of switches and the plurality of antennacomponents into an antenna for transmitting or receiving the signalcomponent of interest to produce a transmit signal component of interestor a received signal component of interest that corresponds to a secondmask; and a low noise amplifier operable to amplify the received signalcomponent of interest to produce an amplified received signal componentof interest; a down conversion module coupled to convert the amplifiedreceived signal component of interest into an inbound symbol stream inaccordance with a corresponding standard of the plurality of standards;an up conversion module coupled to convert an outbound symbol streaminto an up converted signal in accordance with the correspondingstandard; and a power amplifier coupled to amplify the up convertedsignal to produce the transmit signal component of interest.
 16. The RFtransceiver of claim 15, wherein the configuration module is furtheroperable to: identify a second signal component of interest of theplurality of signal components of interest; and configure the pluralityof switches and the plurality of antenna components into the antenna fortransmitting or receiving the signal component of interest and into asecond antenna for transmitting or receiving the second signal componentof interest.
 17. The RF transceiver of claim 15, wherein the pluralityof antenna components comprises at least one of: a plurality of antennaelements, wherein an antenna element of the plurality of antennaelements has an element frequency range, an element bandwidth, anelement gain within the element bandwidth, and an element radiationpattern; and a plurality of phase shift elements.
 18. The RF transceiverof claim 17, wherein the configuration module is further operable to:configure the plurality of switches, the plurality of antennacomponents, and the plurality of phase shift elements into the antennahaving a plurality of antenna members, wherein the plurality of antennamembers facilitates at least one of: beamforming of the signal componentof interest, multiple input multiple output (MIMO) formatting of thesignal component of interest, and diversity reception of the signalcomponent of interest.
 19. The RF transceiver of claim 15, a switch ofthe plurality of switches comprises at least one of: amicro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) switch; an integrated circuitsapphire switch; and a silicon integrated circuit switch.
 20. The RFtransceiver of claim 15 further comprises: a die; and a packagesubstrate, wherein the package substrate supports the die and whereinthe die supports the plurality of switches, the plurality of antennacomponents, and the configuration module.